BI scrimmages with Wayne Co. ahead of season opener

Bradwell’s Cameron Riles fights for the ball against a Wayne County player Tuesday at BI.

Bradwell’s soccer teams lost their scrimmage games Tuesday against Wayne County at home.The Lady Tigers lost, 6-1. The Lady Yellow Jackets took a quick lead and continued to add to it throughout the game. Bradwell’s lone goal came from Alicia McCray late in the game.Despite the loss, Bradwell head coach Scott Akins was impressed with the girls’ effort.In the boys’ game, which BI lost, 3-2, Tigers boys’ head coach Tommy Oglesby saw what he has known since his team started voluntary conditioning last November: This year’s Tigers are young but hungry.“We have five seniors, five juniors, 20 sophomores and two freshmen,” Oglesby said.Coming off a playoff berth last season, Oglesby has some of the team leaders from last year back. Senior defensive midfielder Robert Miller, who has been with Oglesby for his entire four years, along with right fullback Cameron Riles and center forward Sergio Ortega Gonzales, provide strong leadership to the team.Junior goalkeeper Sean de la Torre has improved immensely, according to the coach. “Sophomores Justus Hoffman, Darius Smith, Ryan Wells, Tyler Dixon and Gabriel Hart should contribute a lot for us this season,” Oglesby said.Newcomers Davion Dotson and Robert Burton will be expected to contribute early. Dotson had an assist to Wells in the scrimmage.Gonzales put the Tigers up midway through the first half, but Wayne tied the game in the final minutes of the first half. Oglesby said he was “very anxious” coming into the game because the team was learning new formations, but didn’t have the team needed to work on them due to weather putting a dent in practice time. Still, he credited the players with stepping up Tuesday. The Tigers kept attacking and forcing turnovers. However, the Yellow Jackets took the lead midway through with a shot from 40 yards out going up, 2-1. Five minutes later, Wayne added another goal and extended its lead to 3-1.Bradwell’s final score came when Dotson hit Wells.“Overall, we played extremely well against Wayne, who is a strong soccer program in the area,” Oglesby said. “We have some marking issues that we need to fix. We played aggressively and very strong on the defensive end.”The Tigers open the regular season Tuesday at Brunswick. Bradwell’s first home game is Feb. 18 against Calvary Day School.“I think will do better in the region,” Oglesby said. “The powerhouses of the region are perennial powers Glynn Academy, Richmond Hill and an upstart Windsor Forest team that finished in the Elite Eight. We finished fourth in the region last year, but we hope to finish at least third or better. The key thing we have to do early in the season is defend well.”